Red Bank Green

Serving Red Bank and Greater Red Bank, NJ

The alleged gunman in the November, 2007 double shooting at Red Bank’s Montgomery Terrace has rejected a plea bargain offered by prosecutors and will instead stand trial, the Asbury Park Press reports.

The newspaper says Eatontown resident Anthony Sims, 20, rejected an offer by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office of a 17-year prison sentence. He told state Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey in Freehold that he wants to go to trial.

Neafsey set October 27 as the trial date.

Both of the shooter’s victims survived their wounds. A third man who authorities say was also fired at was unhurt. Read More »

About a dozen Red Bank adults and their children turned out for a site cleanup organized by board of education member Carrie Ludwikowski at the Red Bank Primary School last Saturday.

At right, Diana Archila-Donohue of Red Bank shows off a turtle that she released into the wetlands. Her husband, Brian, had rescued the turtle from the Garden State Parkway. (Photos by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge.)

Todays edition of Red Bank oRBit takes it down to Asbury Park, a music town where several generations of blues musicians could tell you a thing or five about the blues  its history, technique and that certain something that draws a line between those who study it and those who live it.

When Hubert Sumlincomes to town “with a vengeance” on Thursday, the innovative stylist who most famously played guitar lieutenant toHowlin Wolffor years will be causing those generations of bluesguys to bow ‘n genuflect. He’ll appear at the lovely Langosta Loungerather than a place that evokes the southern juke joints and midwest roadhouses of his formative years. In our exclusive interview, we talk to Sumlin about the long road that brought him to this day and place (including a strange case of giggus interruptus that happened right here in Red Bank), and the road that still winds ahead for the 77-year-old legend.

It’s there for your perusal in Red Bank oRBit the only online source for local arts and entertainment news that lives the blues!

It’s got to be among the leading candidates for the official symbol of this damp summer: the literally lowly mushroom.

redbankgreen‘s Accidental Photographer found this one Sunday on Eastview Avenue in Little Silver. Do we have a mycologist among our readers who might identify it for us?

It’s not that the sun hasn’t been out so much as that it doesn’t seem to stay out for long. Today, and for the next few days, the weather forecast calls for a return to conditions associated with proliferating fungi. Which is to say cloudy with a chance of rain or even thunderstorms.

This week’s featured comment was posted by “Jack” underneath an an article that included some discussion of a plan by Red Bank officials to rename Locust Avenue in honor of the late mayor and Supreme Court Associate Justice Daniel J. O’Hern.

David Goldman‘s quest for custody of his nine-year-old son, Sean, was dealt another blow late last week when Brazilian judge ruled that the boy should remain with his Brazilian stepfather until the case is finally resolved, the Star-Ledger reported Sunday.

From the article:

The ruling reverses a previous court decision that allowed Goldman custody of his son for six days a week whenever he visits the 8-year-old boy in Brazil.

In today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit, we hoof it over to Monmouth Street in Red Bank, where tomorrow night, June 30, the folks at the Count Basie Theatre will present a free screening of The Basie is Back, a new documentary detailing the massive renovation project that helped the venerable venue put forth a fantastic new face in 2008. We’ll give you a preview  but if you’re thinking that you’ll catch up with the film at a later date, think again: there are no followup showings scheduled, no copies available for purchase, and no way to view it online. All the more reason to check out this community event in person.

We also get up early for a chat with Janice Lieberman, the author and TV personality best known as the Consumer Smarts correspondent for NBC’s Today Show. She’s in the area for a special Girls’ Night Out event this Wednesday, July 1  a personal appearance (hosted by the literary-minded ladies at Book ItEvents) promoting her new guide How to Shop for a Husband.

In our exclusive interview, Lieberman speaks to Diana Moore about the most common misconceptions that recur in searching for that elusive Mr. Right; about the most genuinely important qualities to look for  and why men are like yogurt, or why you should only date someone who’s uglier than you.

And all the more reason to check out Red Bank oRBit  the only place where you’re gonna read about any of this stuff!

The one-named artisan Tito brings his fourth-generation skills to Red Bank and Long Branch this weekend. (Click to enlarge)

In from Spain this weekend is a potter best known simply as Tito, who’s making a return engagement at a Red Bank store that features his earthenware.

Juan Pablo ‘Tito’ Martinez is a third-generation maker of bowls, pitchers and more from the Andalucia region of Spain who won his country’s National Artisan Award in 2008 for keeping alive skills that date back to the Renaissance.

He’ll be at Carter & Cavero, a business specializing in olive oils and vinegars, churning out vases and bowls while fielding questions from anyone interested in his craft.Read More »

With its million-dollar view of the Navesink, the Charles Williams house would be razed sooner or later, locals appear to agree. Below, a weathered medallion on the doorframe marks the structure as a Century House. (Click to enlarge)

It’s a homestead that links Fair Haven not only to its roots as a riverfront village, but to the bedrock of its identity as a place where African Americans made their homes even in the days of slavery.

The Charles Williams house, built overlooking the Navesink River in 1855, has remained in the same family without interruption, pre-Emancipation right through the death of its most recent occupant, who lived there for 90 years.

Her name was Winifred Julia Decatur Robards, and she died one year ago this week at the age of 92, adding to the rapid erosion of the borough’s small black community.

But years before her death, she and her two sons saw the end of the line coming, and planned to put the house up for sale. And now, it appears the Williams house will indeed fall to a bulldozer at the behest of its next owner: the borough of Fair Haven itself.

Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit has an exclusive interview with a performer who’s always been something of a favorite around these parts  Jeffrey Gaines, the singer and songwriter who famously dueled with Peter Gabriel some years back over who would have the biggest hit with “In Your Eyes.”

A frequent visitor to the greater Red Bank area, Gaines was one of the stars of last May’s Band Together For Survival benefit at the Basie. This Sunday, June 28, he’ll be back in the borough for a special show at The Downtown. We talked to him about Red Bank, his Pennsylvania roots, and some places that can’t be triangulated on Google Earth.

From there, it’s a quick look at The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), the actual title of a speed-record spoof of all 37 Shakespeare comedies, tragedies and  in the form of an onstage football game  regal histories. Devised by a British improv troupe, the show comes to the historic and slightly haunted environs of the Woods Theatre at Monmouth U, for the first in its 2009 Shadow Lawn series of summertime stage presentations.

Like a lost packet of Astronaut Ice Cream, it’s all there, going round and round, forever in oRBit.

The Red Bank Charter School has won the latest round in a lawsuit over the settlement of two earlier disputes arising from the construction of its Oakland Street campus.

Three former members of the school’s board of trustees  Vincent Crapelli, William Moore and Josephine Lee  sued after the board settled in 20o7. They claimed the board didn’t have the authority to take the actions.

Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit offers up a story that you can say has been months in the making  our guide to outdoor dining in the borough of Red Bank. It’s a story that we’ve been meaning to get to for several weeks now, but it seemed as if every time we stuck our head outside the dugout, the game got called on ‘count’a’rain.

Well, even though it’s still piddling outside as we type this, we’re going to declare the start of summertime outdoor dining season officially open  with our comprehensive culinary cavort through the sidewalk tables and sunset vistas; the courtyards and the “convertibles;” the patios and the, well, parking lots.

We’ll give you a cheerfully opinionated roundup that takes in everything from the dock-and-dine glamor of Pearl at Oyster Point to the trafficky clamor of Strollo’s Lighthouse; from newcomers like The Boondocks, to newly renovated landmarks like The Dublin House  to neatly reinvented best-kept-secrets like the Red Bank Beer Garden, home to the formidable Oak Bridge Burger pictured here.

Trust us, you won’t even miss the ocean views. And besides, you can always take that romantic walk on the beach later.

It’s all here and now in oRBit, your streetside seat for the best people-watching views in the RB universe.

A contingent of kayakers and others with an interest in river access turned out at Monday night’s Red Bank council meeting to again implore local officials to preserve, and maybe even install a sign at, the Maple Cove property.

Also at the bimonthly session: a nine-year-old girl sought help for pedestrians trying to get across Shrewsbury Avenue; a pair of state Department of Environmental Protection engineers gave a quick overview of the Marine Park bulkhead restoration project; and a resolution calling for the right of gays to marry was tabled.Read More »

The former in-laws of David Goldman are pushing back against the Tinton Falls man’s claims that his now-deceased ex-wife took his son, Sean, away from a happy marriage.

There was “no love” in the marriage when Bruna Bianchi took Sean Goldman on vacation to Brazil in 2004, her mother says in an appearance this morning on CBS’s Early Show.

It was only after her arrival in her native country that Bianchi decided to stay and get divorced from Goldman, Silvana Bianchi said during an interview broadcast earlier today from in the show’s New York studio.

You’ll forgive us for getting a little theatrical, but today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit takes it a bit far afield from our normal borders  beaming it in via satellite from across the pond, from the way-off Broadway precincts of the Andromeda galaxy, and even that strange and wonderful place known as Asbury Park.

We’ll take you to the South Banks of London by way of Monmouth University, where on Thursday the school’s Pollak Theatre will be among 270 venues worldwide to screen a live simulcast of Phédre, the Royal National Theatre production of the Greek tragedy starring a fiendishly fine Dame Helen Mirren(pictured)  appearing in all her golden hotness through the magic of High Definition.

From there, it’s a quick stumble over to Rons West End Pub, where local musical makers Brian Breen and Michael Chartier host a special sneak preview of (and cagey fundraiser for) their work-in-progress Far Out, a “sci-fi musical comedy” that’s set to play NYC’s Fringe Festival later this summer. We’ll tell you why the next off-Broadway sensation might just be able to say it came from outer space.

Then it’s over to the fab flying saucer of Tim McLoones Supper Club, where award-winning cabaret entertainer Tommy Femia returns with his show Judy Garland: Live in Concert. This week marks the 40th anniversary of La Garland’s passing  as well as the 40th birthday of Femia, an eerie coincidence that the tribute artist, in a detailed interview with Dorothy Creamer, is hesitant to call outright Reincarnation.

But hey, stranger things have happened  and they do, every day, right here in oRBit.

Here’s what she had to say under our story on Lou del Pra’s first year as athletic director at Red Bank Regional High, an interview in which we asked about low participation levels among Red Bank kids in school sports:

Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit takes a look at The Fixx, the reborn and rebranded successor to Chubby’s Waterside Grill on West Front Street in Red Bank. Among the attractions at the “more lounge-y” nightspot on the Navesink is a Tuesday Original Music Night that’s already in full swing, with upcoming guest performers including Same Mistake Twice, a band fronted by American Idol Season 7 contestant Alisha Dixon (pictured).

There’s more than one way for Tuesday night music clubbers to get their fixx, as it turns out  we’ll also clue you in on a new Two Dollar Tuesday summer series that starts this week at Asbury Park’s Wonder Bar. Then we’ll take it right across the street to Tim McLoones Supper Club, where radio broadcast legend Joan Hamburg will be doing her show live this Wednesday afternoon  and we’ll drop you back off in Red Bank, where soft-rock survivors America take to the Basie with a crucial assist from indie-credentialed Fountains of Wayne.

It’s all waiting for you, and only from your designated driver of discerning taste  Red Bank oRBit!